Guiding Light Mission Launches Employment Agency

Grand Rapids nonprofit Guiding Light Mission recently launching an employment agency named The Job Post.

The Job Post will be open to the public and to the men involved in the mission’s recovery programs.

Guiding Light Mission's goal is to "provide food and shelter while equipping men with social, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual skills". The Job Post provides another way to reach that goal.

Guiding Light Mission’s board of directors approved the initiative in early 2015. The employment agency opened in April.

Job placement will generate revenue to be used to help sustain The Job Post and other Guiding Light programs.

The Job Post currently operates out of Guiding Light Mission’s Heartside headquarters at 255 South Division.  Long-term plans are for the agency to have its own location.

Guiding Light Mission executive director Stuart Ray is president of The Job Post, but the company’s day-to-day operations will be led by Christina Felan, an 8-year employment recruiter, who is vice president of The Job Post.

“Guiding Light Mission is dedicated to creating strategic investments that help solve community problems,” Ray says.  “As we help men recover from their struggle and transition back into the community, we notice that employment is one of the biggest barriers to full re-engagement.  We realize that is an issue for others in our region, too, so we decided to face the issue head on and invest in helping people find work.”

The agency operates primarily as a “temp to hire” service, which means it places job candidates in temporary work positions with the intention of developing the positions into full-time, sustainable employment. They will also offer some traditional temporary employment as well.

“We are hopeful that employers see their partnership with The Job Post as part of their own reinvestment in the community,” Felan said. “We’re going to place qualified, able candidates, but we hope that our employer partners see the bigger picture and want to help make a difference.”

Currently, The Job Post is primarily focusing on recruiting for light industrial and general labor positions, but there are plans to place candidates into customer service and clerical positions in the future.